Optional parameter in the middle of a route

Question

Is there any way to add an optional parameter in the middle of a route ?

Example routes:

/things/entities/
/things/1/entities/

I t

Answer 1

The "correct" answer for this question is; No, you can't and shouldn't use an optional parameter unless it's at the end of the route/url.

But, if you absolutely need to have an optional parameter in the middle of a route, there is a way to achieve that. It's not a solution I would recommend, but here you go:

routes/web.php:

// Notice the missing slash
Route::get('/test/{id?}entities', 'Pages\TestController@first')
    ->where('id', '([0-9/]+)?')
    ->name('first');

Route::get('/test/entities', 'Pages\TestController@second')
    ->name('second');

app/Http/Controllers/Pages/TestController.php:

resources/views/test.blade.php:

    First route




    Second route

Both links will trigger the first-method in TestController. The second-method will never be triggered.

This solution works in Laravel 6.3, not sure about other versions. And once again, this solution is not good practice.